Blake meant no disrespect by gesture

Giants' Wilson felt Dodger was mocking his tribute to dad

By Joseph Santoliquito / Special to MLB.com

PHILADELPHIA -- It just doesn't seem to fit. Ask anyone in the Dodgers' clubhouse, or in the Phillies' clubhouse, for that matter, and the opinion is pretty prevalent: Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake is one of the good guys.

It's why it seemed so uncharacteristic of Blake to imitate a gesture in the dugout done by Giants closer Brian Wilson, after Blake hit a home run off Wilson in the 12th inning of San Francisco's 13-inning 7-5 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday.

After each save, Wilson makes a signature gesture of crossing his forearms and pointing, in honor of his deceased father and his faith. Blake happened to be caught on TV making the same gesture after homering off Wilson. After Sunday's game, Wilson was informed of what Blake did, and reportedly went into a rage before his teammates could calm him down.

"Of course I didn't mean anything personal by it," Blake said before the Dodgers-Phillies game on Tuesday night. "I didn't intend to mock [Wilson's] father or mean any disrespect by it. All anyone sees is what happened afterward -- I was excited. I hit a big homer. I got out of my box a little bit."

Asked if he had the chance to apologize to Wilson, Blake said, "I don't know. Other closers who do certain things on the mound can't deal with it when you do it back to them. It's their deal. I'm not a fan of showboating, and I'm not saying that's what [Wilson] did. Yes, I have some regrets about it, but it wasn't intended to be anything personal. Like I said, it was just me out my box."

Joseph Santoliquito is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.